You win, Channing Tatum

I held out and held out, unable to accept a Cro-Magnon as the most viable leading man we’ve produced since Robert Downey, Jr. got his sh*t together, but I surrender. Channing Tatum has totally won me over.

This isn’t a ringing endorsement of his acting—although I have upgraded him from “ugh, ew” to “not the worst thing happening right now”—and I have no interest in Freebie Five’ing him. But I support Channing Tatum: Celebrity. I’m okay with his position as a leading man and star. I actually really kind of like the guy. He seems swell.

Tatum has been in and around Chicago for the past couple months, filming the Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending. It’s been a rough summer, as it has been most everywhere else, with crushing heat and humidity and destructive thunderstorms to boot. This production is enormous, and the stunt work is involved, technical and looks brutal. Tatum has been doing a lot of it, and when he isn’t the one in the harness getting swung against fire escapes, he’s standing around in a long black coat and big-ass boots, which looks f*cking hot and uncomfortable. In other words: almost anyone else would be complaining at least a little.

Not Tatum. Everyone I’ve talked to has had nothing but good stuff to say. He’s so nice, so patient, so friendly, a good tipper. You cannot find a bad story about this guy, and believe me, I’ve been looking (Lainey: me too!)—no one is this nice! Except like, Matt Damon. But that’s where we’re at, isn’t it? Channing Tatum is the new Matt Damon, at least persona-wise.

My favorite story comes from a security guard in my building who was doing some moonlighting when the cast was using the parking garage as a staging area. He brought his kids with him one day and after getting called away, returned to his post to find Tatum playing GI: Joe with them, calling orders from a folding-chair fort. Can you imagine being eight years old and having GI: JOE HIMSELF playing forts with you?